Meet Kaitlynn Rosier Tefft

We were lucky to catch up with Kaitlynn Rosier Tefft recently and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Kaitlynn, so excited to talk about all sorts of important topics with you today. The first one we want to jump into is about being the only one in the room – for some that’s being the only person of color or the only non-native English speaker or the only non-MBA, etc Can you talk to us about how you have managed to be successful even when you were the only one in the room that looked like you?

As a young female chiropractor, I am almost always one of few in the room. Actually, in Michigan, only 30 percent of chiropractors are women. I started my first job at a practice where I was not only the only female chiropractor, but the first one they have ever hired since opening- 70 years ago. I had worked at this practice for 5 years and it was very difficult and challenging for me. I knew walking it to the position, I was going to be a trailblazer. I was met with hardship from the practice and patients. I would overhear patients comment over the phone- ” Dr. Kaitlynn? A woman? No thanks, she won’t be able to adjust me”. I walk into rooms to greet a male patient, he would give me a look up and down and say “so how is this going to work?”. I learned very quickly I need to be overly confident in my skills and myself or I would continue to get this backlash. I was 24, just graduated but knew I could use my fresh knowledge, confidence and gifts of being a woman to my advantage. So that is exactly what I did. I knew as a woman, I had a great nature of listening and having incredible bedside manner. So I leaned it to that, listened to patients and everything they wanted to share with me. As well, I walked into each room with patients with pure confidence- strength in my voice and advice. Within a year, I had patients requesting to see me over the male doctors they have been seeing for years because I could adjust better than them. This really taught me how you can teach yourself confidence and small steps to acting with confidence everyday can make you into a confident person. As well, I learned not to be ashamed of being female chiropractor- rather what qualities I could provide with being different at the practice.

After 5 years, I saw such a need for women’s health and care in our profession. So I went on to create my own practice where woman are welcomed- specfially focusing in prenatal and postnatal care. Rose Chiropractic was created to provide woman a comfortable setting that they are welcomed to bring their children without getting judgment. Rose Chiropractic has been open 1 year now and has been helping so many women in there journey.

Let’s take a small detour – maybe you can share a bit about yourself before we dive back into some of the other questions we had for you?

After 5 years, I saw such a need for women’s health and care in our profession. So I went on to create my own practice where woman are welcomed- specifcally focusing in prenatal and postnatal care. Rose Chiropractic was created to provide woman a comfortable setting that they are welcomed to bring their children without getting judgment. Rose Chiropractic has been open 1 year now and has been helping so many women in their journey.

I have such a passion for treating prenatal/postpartum patients- there is a lack of care physically for them. I treat them musculosketally, but also provide exerciuses and rehab. I am very passionate about keeping women lifting weights and working out in their pregnancy. Pregnancy is an athletic event, we should treat them like athletes!

Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?

Through my profession and taking care of people in previous job, truly people just want to be heard. I think listening to people it very underrated. We forget how simple, but how powerful it is to make someone feel heard. Even if I can’t help someone, I can listen to them. I can hear what they are struggling with and emphasize with them. I found very quickly I could had a skill of listening and knew it would make me stand out as a provider in my profession.

What has been your biggest area of growth or improvement in the past 12 months?

Throughout my year of starting my practice, I really learned what it meant to fully jump in. My biggest supporter, my husband, told me when I left my previous practice “you need to full jump in, if you half jump in your not going to succeed”. I thought with opening a practice I needed everything figured out. I needed the perfect building with the best logo immediately! My husband said ” you just need to start”. So that’s what I did- I just started. I had some patients follow me from the previous practice- I collected there info, bought a cheap software system, bought a portable table and borrowed a room in my mom’s office to see patients once a week. I just started, it wasn’t the prettiest set up- but it worked! you know what? Patients loved it! They loved watching my grow and work up to creating something. I eventually found a space for my office, created a business plan and continuing to build a business. Today, we are over a year in, with a beautiful office, an employee and hitting new records of patients this past month! Don’t be afraid to start and start small, who knows what my success would have looked like if I didn’t.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://rosechirogr.com
• Instagram: @drkaitlynn_

Image Credits

Oswald West Photography